EC to blame for BN’s loss of Chinese support
Sabah’s Chinese-based Liberal Democratic Party wants the ruling national alliance to provide for more Chinese representation in government.
Queville To, FMT
PENAMPANG: A Sabah-based Barisan Nasional partner is blaming the loss of Chinese support on the Election Commission’s (EC) gerrymandering.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said the manipulation of election boundaries by the EC had caused the Chinese community in the state to lose their voice despite their large number.
Speaking at a party event on Sunday, its secretary-general-cum-Tanjung Aru division chief Teo Chee Kang said the party hopes the coalition will nominate Chinese candidates especially in those mixed constituencies which have a large Chinese population.
He noted that currently out of the 60 state constituencies, only 12 of them are the Chinese constituencies, as the result of gerrymandering by the EC.
He cited Lahad Datu, Keningau and Tenom which have a sizeable number of Chinese voters do not have Chinese representatives to look after their interests.
“Lahad Datu which has more than 8,000 Chinese voters has been divided by Lahad Datu and Tunku constituencies. Keningau which has more than 7,000 Chinese voters has been split by Liawan and Bingkor constituencies, while Tenom with more than 6,000 Chinese voters is being divided by Kemabong and Melalap constituencies,” he said.
He claimed that a recent survey conducted by several state BN Chinese component parties throughout the state had revealed that the absence of Chinese representatives in these constituencies has caused great dissatisfaction among the Chinese community there, which had inevitably affected their support for BN.
Teo said his party hopes the BN leaderships should pay attention to this when fielding the candidates in the coming general election.
“This is important as, if there’s a Chinese representative, it would better facilitate the government solving of the various issues affecting the Chinese community in these areas,” he said.
